While we all recognise the need to keep up-to-date with media reviews and great ideas to enrich our family life and deepen our faith, we all find it difficult to find time to find quality content. And, the cost of such material can be an issue.

Here are some helpful sources.. content that is free and is readily available to download in-app to your iPad or Smartphone. Check them out:

Thriving Family (Focus on the Family) provides a free magazine download with content covering family stages, media reviews, ideas for including family faith into your busy life, devotions, family living articles and more. Read it yourself and encourage other families to download and read these informative family articles and features, too. (iPad app)

HomeFront (David C. Cook) is another free downloadable magazine app that you may like to consider. Download and read the magazine as a digital magazine or look through the listed resources- Environment, God's Word, Food and Fun, Traditions, Storytelling and more. Then choose 2 or 3 ideas to incorporate into your family times during the week. You'll find conversation starters, recipes and activities for different age groups.

And.. all these articles, ideas and resources are ready-to-hand on your iPad or Smartphone.

A constant refrain for many families is, 'Life is too busy!' and, while we acknowledge its truth, we seem incapable of slowing down. But it's especially important to slow down sufficiently to take photos, regularly, of our kids and grandchildren. Someone once said that film of childhood can never be run through for a second showing, and if we miss those moments, those days, those seasons of our children's development, we can never reclaim them.

One way to set up a regular photo reminder to record a memory is to use the app TinyBeans. If you missed our earlier review of this app, you can read it here.

It's also helpful to have a suggested list of photo ideas or suggestions to help you create an unique and meaningful snap of your family. Rebecca Cooper has provided free downloadable lists to trigger your imagination and make these photographic moments fun! You can check out her list 'Embrace the Camera: 50 photos to take with your kids' below (just click on the illustration to enlarge) or see more of her lists on her site here.

Her books, 'Don't Say Cheese', and '40 Top Tips for Better Photos' provide you with ideas and tip to help you make the most of any photographic opportunity with your children. Your can find her books here.

When your children are young, you sometimes feel like you need to make a weekly appointment with your family doctor. Certainly, it is time-consuming to keep track of childhood growth and development, vaccinations, childhood illness, allergies and other medical records. Now, you can easily maintain a mobile family medical record using one of the iPad/iPhone apps available. This type of app is essential for emergencies or when there’s been an accident and medical information is needed on the spot. But you’ll find just as much use for this type of app in recording the progress of your children’s development, illness history, vaccinations records and allergies. Two apps of this type stand out- My Kid’s Health and My Medical for iPad. Both of these apps sync with your iPad calendar for ease of use when making doctor’s appointments and receiving reminders. Medical contact information is automatically included from your contacts. My Kid’s Health includes personal vaccination schedules for your child from the World Health Organisation and national health organisations. It has an easy interface and attractive graphics. Growth records- weight, height, head circumference etc can be easily viewed in table or graph format. It is the more expensive of the two but requires no upgrades.My Medical includes common medical test templates to track results- height, weight, blood pressure, CAT scan and more. Files can be attached and a report can be generated from the medical records and printed or emailed as required. My Medical can be used for the whole family. Someone has mentioned that a Notes area would be useful to record any questions to ask the doctor or to list any instructions given verbally, but I’m sure additional features will be added later. Check out both these useful apps and find that your medical record keeping becomes a breeze.